While Hong Kong’s political crisis is often seen as a major challenge to China’s leaders, a recent trip to Hunan province has brought home to me the Chinese state’s adeptness at turning the situation to its advantage.
Given the Communist Party’s tight control over the media behind the Great Firewall, the Hong Kong narrative the party has created in the hearts and minds of Chinese citizens is basically: thank goodness I don’t live there.
In fact, the violence in Hong Kong benefits Beijing.
Generally, when I explained to mainlanders how Hongkongers want to defend the freedoms guaranteed by the Basic Law against the political tightening that has intensified since 2012, they understood. They, to
Oct 24, 2019